The present invention is generally related to telecommunications networks, and more particularly to implementing Quality of Service ("QoS") processing control within such networks.
Devices such as bridges and routers are employed to move data units between end-stations in a telecommunications network. The data units may represent various types of traffic including voice, video and computer data. Because some traffic may be associated with real time communication, processing of certain data units may be particularly time critical. For example, processing delay or loss of data units associated with a real time voice or video transmission could significantly degrade the quality of such communication. However, delays in exchange of some types of computer data may not significantly affect the quality of such communication. It may also be desirable to prioritize traffic within a given type of communication.
One method for prioritizing data units in a telecommunications network is with QoS parameters. Each data unit within the telecommunications network includes a header portion and a data portion. The header portion includes information for handling the data unit such as Source Address and Destination Address information. The header may also include a QoS priority indicator. It is known to insert QoS information in the transport layer of the header. Devices which receive and retransmit data units within the telecommunications network then examine the QoS portion of the header of such data units and assign priority accordingly. However, QoS has not yet been implemented in an effective manner.